Method for determining an optimal schedule of an appliance
First Claim
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1. A method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation, the method comprising:
- acquiring pricing data from a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance while performing the cycle of operation;
obtaining a user preference for a tradeoff factor where the tradeoff factor is indicative of at least one of a user'"'"'s desire to save money or a user'"'"'s reluctance to delay a cycle of operation for the appliance;
calculating at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates;
assigning a delay request to selected time periods based on the tradeoff factor and the projected rate;
creating a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods where the projected schedule incorporates the delay request assigned to the selected time periods;
incorporating the projected schedule into the message;
and transmitting to the appliance the message so that the appliance performs the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule;
wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is assigned and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates.
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Abstract
A method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation includes a step of acquiring pricing data from a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance. A projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods is calculated based upon a user preference. A projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for a future series of time periods is created and then incorporated into the message that is transmitted to the appliance.
18 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation, the method comprising:
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acquiring pricing data from a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance while performing the cycle of operation; obtaining a user preference for a tradeoff factor where the tradeoff factor is indicative of at least one of a user'"'"'s desire to save money or a user'"'"'s reluctance to delay a cycle of operation for the appliance; calculating at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates; assigning a delay request to selected time periods based on the tradeoff factor and the projected rate; creating a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods where the projected schedule incorporates the delay request assigned to the selected time periods; incorporating the projected schedule into the message; and transmitting to the appliance the message so that the appliance performs the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule; wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is assigned and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of scheduling a cycle of operation in an appliance comprising:
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obtaining from a user of the appliance a tradeoff factor between 0 and 1 based on a user'"'"'s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource; determining an optimal schedule for performing a cycle of operation in the appliance wherein the schedule is a function of the tradeoff factor wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which a delay request is included in the optimal schedule, and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of a series of projected rates for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates; and performing the cycle of operation in the appliance based on the determined optimal schedule. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A remote device configured to communicate with at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation and to communicate with a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance while performing the cycle of operation, wherein the remote device comprises at least one server configured to:
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acquire pricing data from the source of information; obtain a user preference for a tradeoff factor where the tradeoff factor is indicative of a user'"'"'s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource; calculate at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates; assign a delay request to selected time periods based on the tradeoff factor and the projected rate; create a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods; incorporate the projected schedule into a message; and transmit the message to the appliance so that the appliance performs the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule; wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is included in the projected schedule and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates.
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15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for a server to:
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acquire pricing data from a source of information; obtain a tradeoff factor where the tradeoff factor is indicative of a user'"'"'s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource; calculate at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates; assign a delay request to selected time periods based on the tradeoff factor and the projected rate; create a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods; incorporate the projected schedule into a message; and transmit the message to the appliance so that the appliance performs the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule; wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is included in the projected schedule and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of protected rates.
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16. A method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation, the method comprising:
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acquiring pricing data from a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance while performing the cycle of operation; obtaining a user preference for a tradeoff factor associated with the use of the resource by the appliance; calculating at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates; assigning a delay request to selected time periods based on the factor and the projected rate; creating a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods; incorporating the projected schedule into the message; and
transmitting to the appliance the message so that the appliance performs the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule;wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is included in the projected schedule and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the pricing data. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification